Formerly the non-partisan watchdog of the 2010 US Census, and currently an opinion blog that covers all things political, media, foreign policy, globalization, and culture…but sometimes returning to its census/demographics roots.

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BREAKING: Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves resigns to become Provost of Georgetown University

It’s been a good few years for Robert M. Groves at the Census Bureau, but news broke earlier today that the man who may have saved the 2010 Census (and most likely eliminated much of the waste and typical bureaucracy) is moving on to become the Provost of Georgetown University.

Now the question is: Who will replace Dr. Groves?

The Washington Post reports:

Robert M. Groves ,who oversaw the 2010 Census, is stepping down from the Census Bureau to become Georgetown University’s next provost.

His resignation, just three years after he left the University of Michigan to head the census, becomes effective in August.

“I’m an academic at heart,” Groves said in a telephone interview Tuesday, explaining his decision to leave the Census Bureau. “This was the kind of position that’s kind of hard to pass up.”

When Groves arrived at the Census Bureau in 2009, many were predicting the 2010 count was headed for failure, in large part because of the shrinking number of Americans who are willing to answer survey questions and concern about technological problems with handheld computers that were scrapped just before the count.

“The wonderful team of career folks here that were assembled way before I got here really proved that to be false,” Groves said.

Groves, who was nominated by President Obama, had developed a national reputation for the methodology of conducting surveys. He had previously been a professor at the University of Michigan and director of its Survey Research Center.

“I look forward to working with Georgetown’s world-class faculty and students to build the Georgetown of the future, one that fulfills all their aspirations,” Groves said in a statement released by the university. “I look forward to meeting my new colleagues, seeking their wisdom and getting to work.”

Senator Tom Carper’s office sent out the following press release:

The news of Dr. Groves’ decision to leave his post of Census Bureau Director later this year is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am happy to see Dr. Groves pursue this great professional opportunity with Georgetown University; on the other hand, his tremendous work ethic and courageous leadership guided the Census Bureau through some very challenging times and he will certainly be missed.

When Dr. Groves came on board in 2009, the Census Bureau faced many operational and management challenges that threatened the success of the 2010 Census. Dr. Groves confronted these challenges head on and through his impressive skill set and background in issues related to the Census and to statistics, he helped right the ship, ensuring the successful completion of the 2010 Decennial Census. Three years after his arrival, Dr. Groves definitely leaves the Census Bureau and the Census in better shape than when he found it. In fact, he was just what the doctor ordered for the agency.

Under Dr. Groves’ leadership, and with the support of President Obama, the Census Bureau realigned its national field office structure and implemented key management reforms, reducing Census Bureau costs by an estimated $15 million to $18 million annually beginning in 2014. His ability to identify and implement ways to achieve greater efficiencies and significant cost-savings within the programs and operations of the Census Bureau ensures that the Census fulfills its important Constitutional obligations while saving taxpayers millions of dollars. We need more leaders like Dr. Groves in government today.

While I respect that Dr. Groves needs to do what is best for his career and his family, his departure is certainly a loss for the Census Bureau and the Administration. I appreciate Dr. Groves’ commitment to public service and his willingness to help the Bureau navigate through such challenging times. Dr. Groves leaves some very big shoes to fill but fortunately, under his leadership, the Bureau is poised to continue to make progress and improve its management of its critical decennial duty.”

Good luck to him. He tried. 2010 was a mess and he and his staff did the best they could after being fairly ignored during the 2nd Bush era. Sooner or later Congress will have to come to the conclusion many of us have that statistical sampling and analysis will have to play a significant part in and the future for the Decennial count.
Technology has increased at such a rate that no matter how much planning goes into the “count” they are decades behind in the execution and as such the dollar cost increases immeasurably.
As they say numbers (and math) don’t lie…
With statistical sampling they can get the rate to under 2% + or -. Much better then the numbers we gathered in 2010.

Dr. Groves may have done much to further the success of the Decennial but, that didn’t trickle down to the Regional Office level. As long as they allow the Regional Directors to serve as Kings running their own Kingdoms (It is kingdoms as there are no women Regional Directors), there will be no way to have consistency in leadership in the Census Bureau. There is a failure of leadership at the Regional level. All of the Regional Directors should be moved to other assignments frequently to break up the incestuous relationships that exist in the Regional Offices where only those who kowtow to the King are rewarded and those who might have a different view are cut down. Women should be given the opportunity to serve as Regional Directors. There is a need for new ideas and new ways of conducting a Census without the waste of money and resources: overhiring, overtraining,crushing HHC’s and dumping millions of dollars of materials that were never needed, giveaways. Doing the same thing, the same way they have done it, following archaic models that did not work in the 2010 Decennial is just dumb. Technology is moving too fast and the attitudes of people have changed too dramatically to work with outdated models and equipment. They need more oversight in the Partnership Program to stop the abuse of resources. They need a slimmer more ethical, better trained leadership group that understands management principles and who can be managers rather than administrators who are really just numbers crunchers. Above all, they need to stop the game of trying to beat out the other Regions. A game that puts pressure on staff to make the numbers, even if it means lying and falsifying, breaking rules and ignoring laws. When the Census puts out new data,please know that some of it was obtained under duress or made up to meet the deadlines. Creativity at work. Hope the next Census Director has a better handle on what really goes on during a Decennial, rather than buying without question what he or she is told. Good luck Dr. Groves.

Sojourner Truth — You said that “there are no women Regional Directors,” but that is not true. During the Decennial, the Boston Region had a female Regional Director. At the present time, the Denver Region has a female Regional Director.

At the “present time” there is one in the Denver Region. So there was one for the Decennial, out of how many? Give me a break. The Regional Directors are very powerful and the Census is a highly paternalistic organization. They don’t understand gender discrimination and do nothing, but the superficial,about sexual harassment. The training for managers in this area is pitiful. They make hiring decisions based on gender and the better looking and younger you are, the better your chances.

Again, the most powerful positions are the Regional Directors. The work is done in the Regions, in the field. How well has this agency done in selecting women in those positions? The quality and integrity of how operations are handled and how managers conduct themselves rest on the shoulders of the Regional Directors. Apparently, TF, you are the appologist for the Census Bureau. How about suggesting to the Census Bureau they adequately train managers at the Regional level in how to handle issues of sexual harassment and hold these Regional Directors accountable for training and resolving issues of harassment and discrimination in their workplaces and for ethical behavior of managers. When a Regional Director values how an employee looks more than what is in their brain and allows managers to engage in misconduct, it tempers the entire culture of the organization. Want to change the culture? Change the players or, at a minimum, reeducate them and hold them accountable.

Sojourner Truth — I am not an apologist, I just disagree with your analysis. In your last post, you make it sound as if there is some sort of atmosphere of sexual harassment that permeates the Regions. Also, I think that you might be underestimating the power of the Assistant Regional Directors.

I can only speak to what I experienced, what I heard, what I saw and what I continue to learn from former employees.I am sure by the time, I finish my interviews, I will have enough to write an expose. The Assistant Regional Director in this case, was so detached, most employees didn’t know who she was. This Assistant Regional Director was a mentee of someone at Headquarters who is very powerful and by the way she acts and dresses, one could come to the conclusion that her looks and other attributes helped her move up in the organization, more than what is in her brain. Again, the tone of an organization is set at the top. The Assistant Regional Director did nothing about the sexual harassment and misconduct. She had full knowledge of what was going on in the field because several employees told her as well as the Congressional Offices. A total failure of leadership from the Regional Director, Assistant Regional Director on down. They condoned the sexual harassment and the misconduct, all for the purpose of making themselves look good.

Sojourner Truth — Those sound like some pretty serious accusations (“They condoned the sexual harassment and the misconduct…”). These kinds of matters are handled through EEO procedures. Given the scale of the operations that are caried out by a Regional Office, and given the large number of employees in each Region (from the Regional Director right on through to the numerous Field Representatives [ongoing surveys] and Enumerators [Decennial]), it is easy for those outside of management to fall into the trap of thinking that those in management are aware of everything single thing that is happening within the Region. This is why EEO procedures are in place —- to determine IF something improper happened, and then WHO knew about it, and what did he/she DO about it.

You also mentioned, in regards to an Assistant Regional Director, “… by the way she acts and dresses, one could come to the conclusion that her looks and other attributes helped her move up in the organization, more than what is in her brain.” This is another pretty serious accusation. You impugn the hiring practices of the agency with such a statement. Whenever there is an open Regional Director or Assistant Regional Director position, it is HQ who does the hiring.

Instead of getting so upset, why not just let the EEO process take care of these matters?

Been there done that. The EEO process, the OIG process, the HRD process the Special Counsel processes were all followed by at least 100 complainants in this region. The Census Bureau set up obstacles at every turn beginning with employees not being able to access the Regional EEO Counselor, calling employees who complained “liars”, terminating them for complaining about sexual harassment. The OCR continued with delays, lost documents and engaged in cover ups, the OIG turned a blind eye and did minimal investigations as to not interfere with operations. They referred issues back to the managers accused of committing the misdeeds. Employees were made to lie to the OIG investigators, Special Counsel never replied, HRD investigated only to get free discovery and assess liability.I can’t tell you how many “Declarations” the HRD Investigators obtained and not one thing was changed, corrected or done. All of these processes facades. You are either very new or very naive, again the apologist for the Census Bureau. All the mangers covered and continue to cover for each other. You have no idea how the Census Bureau EEO process is set up to give management. I hope you never find your self in a position to use the EEO process that is in place. Go directly to EEOC and skip the Agency process.

If you are talented and ethical, as I believe you are, find another Agency to work for. There is a lack of ethics in the Census Bureau management and, that is really sad, as so many rely on the accuracy of data produced by the Agency. Through the FOIA, I am finding much that shows the lack of concern for people and ethics.

Yes, Headquarters does the hiring of Regional Directors and ARD’s but, when your mentor is a very powerful person at Headquarters and you worked with them in the past, that relationship greatly influences your chances of being selected. Merit plays a very small role in promotions at the higher levels in the Census Bureau.

I am upset because of the harm the Census Bureau caused to so many who only wanted to and needed to work. They did things to these employees that they didn’t need to do. The Census Bureau needs to learn to “do the right thing” with all of these employees who were unjustly harmed. The managers behaved in a “brutal” manner with these employees. Where was that EEO process you tout so much? I will be publishing an essay with all the dirt insight. Stay tuned.

Sojourner Truth — I’m not new to the agency, and I am not naive. It is indeed because I know how things work in the Bureau that I have written what I have written in these exchanges.

If I am understanding you correctly, you say these claims were all meritorious, and yet the EEO, OIG, HRD, and OCR all refused to take action. It sounds like a vast anti-employee conspiracy!

These matters that you mention sound like they happened during a Decennial operation. Given the fact that thousands of temporary employees are hired for such a fast-paced operation, it is inevitable that certain behavior will take place that would never be allowed during ongoing survey operations in a Regional Office.

Instead of publishing “an essay with all the dirt,” why not just let it go? Life is way too short for worrying about things beyond our control. No agency is perfect, but the Bureau consistently ranks very high in the federal employee satisfaction surveys.

Denial, denial, denial. Why don’t you let go of your blind allegiance to the Cenus Bureau. It appears you cover for the Census Bureau just like all the other managers do. No Agncy is perfect, I have very successfully worked for some of the major ones, in high level mangement positions. They had their problems but, they “owned up” to them, corrected them and did the right thing. I have never seen the blatant misconduct and cluelessness that I saw while with the Census Bureau and the Census Bureau denies and continues to cover up. You are a perfect example of that. Census Bureau lacks of the integrity other agencies had. I recount to former federal management employees the things that went on in our Census Bureau Region and they can’t believe it. They ask me “why weren’t these managers fired?”. You and I both know the answer to that.

Abuse of employees both verbally and physically, threats, terminations because employees complain or try to resolve problems as they are required to do, fraud, breaking the law, not following Agency policy whether, in a fast paced environment such as the Decennial or during ongoing Census Bureau American Community Survey are never allowable or appropriate as you seem to contend. I don’t know what management training you attended. There is no excuse for managers to behave this way and no excuse for the Director, Assistant Director and other higher level managers to condone this behavior. And, yet, these individuals continue to hold positions and get paid, without any consequences.

I support Sojourner Truth 100%. Also, Capitalism has no loyalty except to itself. Let’s not be so naive people. The Orwellian American Community Survey is very scary. It’s the information the private sectors want knowing they can’t have it, so they use the strong arm of the government to do its dirty work. Remember what Ronald Reagan said “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I also think it’s time that the Census Bureau agency changed its name to reveal its true purpose. I propose the name “Disinformation Survey Bureau.”

saynotoacs — No offense, but you can’t agree with Sojourner Truth 100%. Unless you work (or have worked) for the Bureau, you can’t possibly understand what we are talking about. It is not because there is something wrong with you, it is simply because nobody can know the inner culture of an agency (or any entity, for that matter) unless they have worked for that agency. For example, you probably work for some company, and I have no idea what the inner culture of that company is like.

As for your claim that the American Community Survey is “Orwellian,” I think that you might be going a bit too far. If I am forced to pay taxes (federal income tax, state income tax, county property tax, local sales tax, etc…), then I want those who will be spending those dollars to have accurate information. Sure, we can debate the merits of whether or not the private sector would do a better job than the Census Bureau of collecting this data in a cost-effective manner with high data quality, but if you were to take that position, wouldn’t it run counter to the anti-capitalist sentiment that you expressed?

Sojourner Truth — I can’t help but point out again that the Census Bureau consistently achieves a high ranking in the federal employee satisfaction surveys. Assuming for the sake of argument that your claims are true, are you willing to consider the possibility that the problem was/is confined to a particular Regional Office (or Regional Census Center)? After all, wouldn’t it be unfair to impugn an entire agency based upon the actions of just 1 office? For example, if I was served an undercooked potato in a restaurant, I wouldn’t say that all restaurants serve undercooked potatoes.

Truth Finder, Years ago I worked for the Census Bureau. If you like employment at Census, you must be a clerk making six figures or one of the cronies. The Census Bureau is the place for unskilled obsequious folks to make more money than they can anywhere else. Increasingly, this is known outside the fence around the Census Bureau. Make contact with people outside Census and open your ears.

HermHollerith — So if a person works for the Bureau, and he likes working for the Bureau, then he “must be a clerk making six figures or one of the cronies.” You see, when you make such sweeping generalizations, you lose credibility. Technically speaking, I think that clerks are GS-6 (maybe some are GS-7??), and even at Step 10 would not make six figures. As for “cronies,” I am not really sure what you mean. Who is a crony?

I find it interesting that those who seem to attack the Bureau are former employees. To say that the Bureau is “the place for obsequious folks to make more money than they can anywhere else,” is another sweeping generalization that destroys any remaining vestiges of credibility. As with any entity, in the public or private sector, some employees are all-stars and some employees are at the other end of the spectrum.

I cannot attest to what others have seen, but in my experience, I have seen some folks in the Bureau who work incredibly hard and put in very long days without requesting OT/Comp Time. I have seen some other folks who are 8-hours-and-I-am-done types in the Bureau, too. I have seen some brilliant ones, and I have seen some that were, shall we say, less than brilliant. All in all, you will find the full tapestry of humanity in the Bureau, which mirrors the full tapestry of humanity that we count/sample in our operations.

Truth Finder,
You are right. There are some good people left at the Census Bureau, marking time towards retirement.
BTW, those employee surveys get set back over and over to employees who say they are unhappy working at the Census Bureau. So please don’t bring up the employee surveys up again.

TF – Your statement that the Census Bureau hires thousands of employees during the Decennial and “it is inevitable that certain behavior will take place that would never be allowed during ongoing survey operations in a Regional Office” is an admission that temporary employees are treated differently than regular employees and that “certain behavior” on the part of management during a Decennial is allowable. This must be a system wide policy and practice. That is good to know. I will share this admission with all former temporary Decennial employees, especially the ones who are suing the Census Bureau, and will try to get the word out widely to potential Census 2020 employees so they will know how the Census Bureau really operates. I don’t know how high in the Census Bureau you are but, I think you just stuck your foot in your mouth. You are as clueless as the rest of the Census Bureau managers I had the displeasure to work with. To make themselves and the Census Bureau or their Regional Office look good, they will do anything whether it is legal, moral, ethical or not. When pressured, Census Bureau management shows its true colors.

Sojourner Truth — I stand by the statement “it is inevitable that certain behavior will take place that would never be allowed during ongoing survey operations in a Regional Office.” You see, during a Decennial, it is impossible for management to know every single thing that is happening. There are thousands of temporary employees coming and going with a high rate of turn-over, and strict deadlines are a part of the regular working day. Naturally, in such an environment, it would be impossible for management to be as aware of what is happening to the same degree as he/she would be during regular on-going operations in the Regional Office setting in the non-Decennial years. This is a logical statement to those who have actually been in management, but it might sound mysterious to someone who has never been in management.

I am curious as to why you are so upset with the Bureau. Were you terminated? If you no longer work for the Bureau, why are you still so consumed with it? Based upon the activities that you have mentioned (talking to former employees, etc…), it seems as if you have a bit of an obsession with the Bureau. No? You’ve got to admit, being that you no longer work for the Bureau, it seems to still take up a lot of your time.

HermHollerith — There are plenty of great employees in the Bureau who are not “marking time towards retirement,” and at the same time, there are some who are not so great. This is the truth with any large agency. However, as for your claim that the employee satisfaction surveys get sent back “over and over to employees who say they are unhappy working at the Census Bureau,” that is simply not true.

TF – If you want more detail speak with Brian Monoghan, Chief Field Operations at Headquarters. He knows all about this. It all happened under his watch and you are wrong that the Regional Director can’t know that their subordinate managers are doing. The Regional Directors are directing them and keep in very close contact with them. Until the Census Bureau “rights the wrong”, I will take every opportunity to tell any and everyone how the Census Bureau harmed numerous employees and about their misconduct. Thank you for giving another opportunity to do so and good bye.

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